preparing halloween

Today at Lidl stores Halloween products have come out on sale and as we want to buy them we have reachede the store early at 9.30 while Momochan was inside kindergarden.
Momochan and I will go togather the 1 november at 15.30 at a cute Halloween party, so I needed costumes and something to eat for our private party at home, just the two of us because daddy has to work ;)
I have bought fried potatoes, nuggets, ice creams shaped pumpkins, juices, muffins, a pair of costumes: skeleton for me and spider for Momochan ; )
Momo and I will have a creepy evening on 31 october, we have decorated a little our livingroom and her bedroom with pumpkins, scary ghosts, zombies, lanters which sound like ghouls.
We will be dressed with our new costumes and will watch on tv special cartoons or something she can watch without being too frighted, have a special meal with nuggets, fries, a looooot of ketchup and treats ; )
We will dance macabre music and read creepy and scary stories and walk for the entire house with ghost lanterns lauging and screaming ;)
The 1 november instead, Momochan will go kindergarden just half day, she will get out at 13,15 I will take her home, shower and put to bed for the nap because at 16,00 we have to be at the special kids halloween party in our special playing zone where Momochan will jump and run, go on the sliders, eat creepy food, play hide and seek with other kids in the monster cave, have a scary face make up and more while I will just look and have a coffee sitting in the middle of the room in the coffee zone dressed and make upped like a skeleton, yessssss this year I will be dressed too !!! HAHAHA last year I saw many magicians, skeletons and vampires, but I did not have chance to buy a costume, thanks to Lidl this year my costume and Momochan's were so economic that i bought, just the price of three happy meals ! HAHAHAHA
I will post after the foto with the costumes but we have to be maked up so we can be more scary HIHIHIHIHI

fresh pasta salad

In Milan is really hot now and temperature quite never goes under 30 degrees, the result is that inside kindergarden kids are always so sweaten, that are really wet, every day when I am going to take Momochan I have to take home, shower and change dresses :(
The result is that obviously Momochan is not hungry at all. I tried to give her a fresh food preparing a pasta salad mixing small diced mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basilicum we have on the balcony, Momochan was not really happy about her dinner but however she managed to eat everything even if with a little effort  ;)

shopping in Chinatown

Once arrived in Chinatown it was really late and we hadd to run to make shopping.

We found a couple of stores still opened and we got inside.

I needed edamame but I alway buy the ones without shell because in the same packet there are more, Sampei wanted some kimchi, we also took apacket of frozen vegetables gyoza, a packet of maccha tea cookies and I also found some bottles of black tea and milk, almost same as I was drinking in Japan every day in 2008.

We also wanted some noodles because we have decided, I have decided since today is Mum's Day, I want to eat ramen so instead of buying single packets of noodles and pay 1.50 euro each, we found a big box containing 30 packets costing only 9,50 euro ;)
Now we have half of a wall cabinet full of meat noodles packets, we eat often so it has been a good idea.
Momochan also made shopping: she found some fruit jellies, tastin peach, same as the ones we bought in Japan and we were crazy about, I also bought some mandarine taste each of which contains a slice of the fruit ;)
After shopping we went straight home to cook dinner, our special mum's day cake is waiting for us ;)

sweet truffles for Carnival

DOLCETTI DI CARNEVALE
(done by Momochan in kindergarden)

1 kg di biscotti secchi
300 gr cacao
300 gr zucchero
500 gr burro
1 bustina di cocco
un pò di codette colorate

PREPARAZIONE
Sciogliere il burro col il cacao e unire lo zucchero e i  biscotti sbriciolati, formare delle palline e passarle nel cocco o nelle codette colorate
Tenere in frigo fino al momento di servire.

Momichan and jelly :)

Momichan loves jelly and she always asks me to make fruit salad and add jelly :)
As you see she is putting jelly herself in her bowl HAHAHA she has eaten so much, we have to go Chinatown often to buy jelly doses and everytime wee take 4 or 6 doses apart obviously from the magic powder ゆかり she puts on her white rice every time we prepare.

rice and veggies

Momichan needs to eat a lot of veggies, pity is she doesn't like so much and most of the times she leaves the veggies in the dish :)
Anyway she has her own preferred veggies, most of all she asks me to cook broccoli or cabbage and carrots; sometimes I can give her also zucchini, onions and other types but chopped so little she can hardlyfeel the taste ; )
For today's lunch I thought it could be a nice idea to mix every ingredient inside her meal and make something colorful so here it is a simple "spring rice" as we call it: rice, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, eggs, ham :)
Momichan didn't leave anything, she finished all the food YEAH !

cup noodles :)

Recently Momichan has gone crazy for the cup noodles. She has discovered this dish we buy some times from the asian markets and I eat when I am too tired to cook anything else so I just open the noodles box, mix the ingredients and put inside microvawe.

It is not the first time she asks me for dinner to cook some cup noodles, she laughs for the curled noodles and loves to drink the broth and discover all the foods inside, for Momichan I add some fresh veggies and ham or a hard boiled sliced egg :)

I have found today an interesting museum to which I have to take her, is the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama, the japanese granny has told Sampei yesterday she has found an offer for a cute hotel in Yokohama and she want to take us, then this evening I made researches and discovered there are a lot of things to do in Yokohama, there is a fabulous acquarium, a zoo, a chinatown, a ramen museum, the Cup Noodles Museum and many other parks and Piers :)

obentou :)

Momichan is getting out from kindergarden at 16.00 PM so every day I am preparing something to take her as snack :)
I am using bento boxes though she is not yet eating obentou, I am just filling the box with (like in this case) fruit juice pack, banana yogurt Yomino, some cookies shaped animals and some small chokolate easter eggs :)

the Dukan diet is a stupid thing :)

Since a week already until I guess 3 months I am on diet :)
Since Momichan has come to light I have fattenedd 10 kilos and now I have decided to loose some kilos and become the girl I was once but the battle is hard :)

As my mom is doing Dukan Diet and in a month has lost 7 kilos (she is a person no diet works with her normally) I was determined to try thinking it could work. I eat just the foods recommended and I do not eat nothing at all different from what is listed, nonetheless in a week time insted of loosing I took one kilo and a half !!!, I move a lot and often take Momichan in my arms for long periods going somewhere (she is now 15 kilos), drink a lot of water, use no salt but I have no results. (in the foto is my salad yesterday with carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and salad, after salad I had a portion of non fat cheese .... )

I am a sweet teeth so is really hard for me going coffee shop and taking a coffee without even a tiny croissant, I have always to take with me a small bottle of skimmed milk to pour inside my coffee and never to eat anything outside the recommended list (proteines (meat, fish that I do not eat, eggs, ham with less than 5% fat and one day yes and one day no I can add veggies), Momichan is helping sometimes, if she looks at me and sees I am just taking a look around at bread or sweets she tell me "mommy you're on a diet you cannot eat" HAHAHA and she gives me a kiss :) how sweet !

BAH ! I know that diet are rigid and hard but I thougth that this one could work a little ... BAH I am really demoralized :( though I am going on :( but if at the end of the month I will have no results I will give up, I am not really fat, 163 for 65 kg I am a little round, normally I do not eat much nor I have many sugars or sweets, I normally eat much meat, egg, veggies (salads) and fruit, sometimes for breakfast I have a small croissant and once in a week I eat a kamut bread sandwich with just ham inside), sometimes I cook a cake and have a slice or two but my normal meals are well balanced and my blood exams tells the same :)

Momi makes pizza !

Here we are at home !

This morning we have decided as daddy is home free we have occasion of doing something togather so we want to have pizza this evening for dinner.

Just before midday we have gone out to our preferred coffee shop and we have bought half a kilo bread paste and now Momichan and her dad are in the kitchen to make a big pizza ^O^

I have chopped a couple of mozzarella cheese and taken tomato sauce out of the fridge, a special sauce not liquid like most one but a bit thick and with pieces of tomato inside.

Momi is happy to cook with daddy I have also a cute yellow cook apron for her like real chef (daddy wears one green) but I guess she is not really realizing what she is doing because she still have some lines of fever, we will make another pizza next week when she will be better anyway for the moment the result seems yummy enough and Momichan is quite proud of her result (I have helped her putting tomato sauce on her pizza and given her the slices of cheese) now we have to put in the oven and wait about 10 minutes.

The big pizza has been made by daddy, the small one by Momichan.

When we finallay sit at the table Momichan eats her creation and some of the big one, cheese has melted gorgeous and this tomato sauce is perfect, pizza has come wonderful and we all eat a lot, despite fever Momichan is hungry ^O^

The strange thing is that if we buy three pizzas we hardly can eat but now with just one and half more or less we are completely full ! HAHAHA

tomato soup ...

... "the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful ... " so it tells a famous song, and here is now the same, outside is snowing and temperature is very low but we are home in the hot and cozy kitchen eating a yummy tomato soup, or better, Momichan is having a tomato soup, I am drinking a mushroom soup.

Once she has discovered we have dried soup in a cupboard in the kitchen at which is enough to add hot water she has started to tell me she wants to try one, the tomato seemed the one she preferred most so here we are ^O^

It is so strange she asks me a soup, because she never has had the slightest will to eat or drink something different from her usual routine, but I'm happy about it, I told her that whenever she wants or when she feels cold she can have a hot soup and we have thousands of different tastes, chiken, tomato, mushrooms, meat, veggies ...

fiera dell'artigianato

Every year in december the first week of the month, in Milan there is a special fair: fiera dell'artigianato where you can visit all the world jumping from foods to many other items tipical from each land presented. It is a special appintment before X'Mas that nobody wants to loose and is a way for Momichan to apprend something about many land she has not yet known.

The Fair is divided in stand subdivided into Europe, Asia, Africa, East, America, Messico, Italy (every region) Russia, Hungary, China, Thailand, .....every nation of the worls nearly ... you can walk around and buy whatever you want, from foods to bags, dresses, shoes, pullovers, Christmas decorations, chokolate, music cd, strange gadgets from Australia (boomerangs, last year we had bought the special sign we have attached to the car with a cangaroo and his baby and the indication telling "baby on board") lamps, alcoohlics, salami, ham, katana from Japan, maccha tea, .... every nation has its specialties.

This time just athe entrance, I have found in the French stand a supercute bag of Gaspard et Lisa, two french charchters so famous and wellknown in Japan of which I have some bento stuff. Momichan was so happy about fair, she was sitting on my shoulders shouting and clapping hands, astonished by everything she was seeing. She eated so much, first a big fruit salad (kiwi, strawberries and ananas) then she tasted every salami and chokolate she found ;-) we also bought her some special lollipop, then she eated quite and entire giant pretzel HAHAHA I never saw Momichan tasting so many things and being so curious, I guess because now she has grown up so much, we visit this fair every year in the first week of december and we always buy some souvenir, some food or some ruhm or dress accessories.

One of the special things we love is the French stand because of many patè and cheese, then we visit Germany because of Chapati Design where you can find special sweaters and coats like elph dresses, Spain because of hairy cow bags, Peru with his children coats all decorated and special berrets, Africa with his leather bags, purses, jewels, France with lavender perfumes and soaps, honey and chokolates and many other Nations.
There are places in which you can buy shells (foto) and many selling jewels made various materials: gold and silver but also, straw, shells, wool, bones leather, pearls ....

We have walked and curioused around until 22.00 PM and then we directed to our car to go home with our treasures: a little leather bracelet for Momichan made in Kenya, a ruhm bottle coming from Jamaica for me, some truffle sala mi for Sampei(the salami was aromatised by truffles and the smell was very strong YUM YUM we love it), a special strawberry pink sugar and a Hello Kitty bib with her name sewed on for Momichan, a special butter cake from Italia, a small dose of marmelade, a pair of tiny pearls earrings and a Chapati discounted sweater for me, (as Xmas present) and some bits of cheese and another italian butter cake for granny.

Momichan was tired but so excited she didn't want to go sleep even if once home was really late and till midnight sje pretendet to jump and dance around ! I made her shower and prepared pijama and milk bottle, (see Momichan wearing my new green elph sweater) and put her to bed, she finally fall asleep and we relaxed in front of tv eating our dinner.
I am really tired, walking all day long and running after Momichan is not really relaxing HAHAHA and also try to keep an eye on mummy and Sampei running everywhere so that if just I stopped to look at something in a few second I was lost and could not see them any more HAHAHA.

Goodnight everybody !

Ikea food

So many times we love to go Ikea store (less than 2 km from home) and get new ideas for the house. Momichan likes to play, we get free coffee and love to eat the Princess cake or the apple cake (the new apple cake is tastier than the old one, the Princess cake pink now not more green is always a good idea).
On fridays sometimes we go eating there for lunch time because meatballs cost less and Momi loves Ikea meatball and french fries. Cost is low and with less money than what we would spend at McDonalds we can eat all three of us. Pasta and many other foods are bio so we are happy Momo can have good food at a reasonable price and for a day we do not cook anithing at home, is not really like going at the restaurant but sometimes is a good idea. With the Ikea card we can have swedish coffee free and most of the times Momi can have her hot dog for snack after one hour playing just with 0,70 cents.

going supermarket ^O^

Today is weekly shopping day, we have to go supermarket to buy some foods. Momichan is always happy to go superrmarket and she easily helps us to find things and tell me what she like to eat.

We have to buy veggies for her because she doesn't eat much and absolutely nothing in kindergarden.